Raise the Rim // Stronger (Part 5) – Mike Todd
Dedication and Illustration
- In honor of the late, great Kobe Bryant, Mike went head to head with a college basketball player for a dunk off.
- It started excellent for both players, but as the rim was raised higher, Mike was unable to perform/win the dunk contest. Maciah won.
- The dunk contest sounded like a good idea in theory. Mike could feel his heart racing, and he can acknowledge that he was strong at a low level and there’s a message in what happened.
- If the rim stayed at the 6 foot mark, he may have remained confident and victorious.
- He was really confident when they started, but as it was raised a little bit, it scared him for a second. Then he put on the Kobe jersey, in character, and was able to dunk at that level.
- However, when the rim was raised to the standard, when it was put at the regulation/standard height of 10 feet, Mike was not able to participate in strength anymore. He has been practicing his whole life at the wrong level.
- Mike suggests that there are many of us yelling we’re getting stronger, but we’re getting stronger at the wrong level.
- We are comparing ourselves, and patting ourselves on the back for a level that is lower than the standard.
- Sidenote: He said he was coming for me…as if he doesn’t come for me every single time LOL
- Many believers spend our entire lives working off the wrong standard.
- The moment we are put into the real game of life, none of our effort, energy, and/or practice is useful.
- The crazy thing is that if 10 feet was the basketball rim being practiced on for Mike’s entire life, he would have been more prepared and would have had a predisposition to dunk like his opponent.
- Today, we are being challenged, that this is the season that we don’t just yell stronger.
- A lot of people are getting stronger, but by the standards of who?
- Did you make/set the standard? Did family members show the standard to you?
- Maybe the standard you’ve been living/playing on will not get you qualified for what God has for you.
- There are too many of us that would rather lower the rim to feel like we’re successful.
- We would rather lower our morals, how we talk to people, our integrity, our character, our relationship standards, etc. In fact, there are believers that have been taking jobs, bribes, manipulating taxes, but it’s wrongfully deemed okay because that’s the low level standard that was seen by many people growing up.
- Even though you may not see the low-level standard as mediocre, or poor, God looks at these things as below the standard.
Message Title: RAISE THE RIM
It’s time for us to raise the rim in our marriages, our families, our integrity, and our stewardship.
With the right angle, the dunks done at a low rim level, can look the same as the dunks some people do with the regulated rim height.
If the camera is just right, you may perceive something simply based on the angle of the lens. For instance, someone may not be a good parent, but we use platforms like social media to change the angle and create false perceptions of reality.
We try to angle things so that the lower level looks like something that is the standard.
No longer will Transformation Church play at a low level. We’re going to raise the rim!
When the rim went to the regulation, i.e. 10 feet. Mike couldn’t dunk anymore. It wasn’t as aesthetic. Even though we cheered, he still couldn’t reach. Nevertheless, it’s better to try on what the standard is, than to fool yourself for your whole life on a low level.
Everybody is celebrating Kobe and his accomplishments because he did amazing things, on the standard. For example, 81 points in a real game, not in his backyard on an 8 foot rim, with no referee, or on a video game. We wouldn’t talk about it otherwise.
Many of us are acting like our great accomplishments were great, but they don’t really count if they were done outside of the standard of God.
Kobe’s feat was amazing because he did it on the regulation height, with referees, with an opponent, and still scored 81 points.
God wants us to get stronger to the point where it doesn’t matter who our opposition is or what rules and regulations have been put on us (skin tone, weight, education). God says that you can do all of it and still excel with a standard.
Most people don’t understand what a standard is. A standard is something set, it is set up and established by an authority. It’s a rule that measures the quantity, weight, extent, and the value/quality of something.
Kobe didn’t set the NBA basketball rules and regulations, i.e. the standards for the NBA. However, he played within the standard and was able to excel.
With Christianity today, we have people trying to excel, but doing it outside of the standard of God. However, when God sees somebody claiming him, but doing it outside the standard, he steps back and lets you fail at that until you realize that you have to play by his rules.
- You Can’t Get Stronger On A Low Standard
You cannot get stronger on a low standard. If Mike played on a 6-foot goal for the rest of his life, he would never gain the ability to do what is actually in him to do.
How many of us have so much more potential on the inside? So much more to give, deposit on this Earth, to give away, but can never reach our potential because we’re playing on a low standard?
Why are people who have never met Kobe grieving him? It wasn’t because of a personal experience. It’s because he took the standard as his bottom place of living. The standard was not what Kobe was trying to achieve. The standard is where he started.
So many of us are trying to figure out what aspects of our sinful actions are sin. We’re just trying to attain the standard instead of letting the standard be the place that we start.
As a child of God, we shouldn’t be trying to reach a certain place. When we get blood bought by Jesus Christ, we should start as the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Too many of us, because we’ve let the wrong thing define our standard, we’re playing below our ability.
How many of you are dunking on a 6-foot goal, in your marriage? You’re married, but you still let people slide into your DMs. Lying about the origin or nature of relationships. You’re dunking on a 6-foot goal.
How many of you are dunking on a 6-foot goal when you want to look nice, so you go try on clothes, wear them, put your deodorant stains on the clothes, take pictures for IG, and put the receipt and tag back on it? Then, you have the audacity to have an attitude when the attendant asks if you’ve worn it. – That’s a poverty mindset. God owns everything, to the point where you should know that you’re blessed enough with the ability to buy it and give it away, if your plan is to only wear it once. Instead, you can be stuck dunking on a 6-foot goal.
Are you dunking on a 6-foot goal when you talk to your kids? You have the nerve to talk to them disrespectfully, then not expect them to talk back to you disrespectfully. You’re playing on a 6-foot goal. It’s time for you to raise the rim. You can’t talk to them and cuss them out of emotion, then present your title when they get mad at you in the same way. You are reaping what you sow. It’s dunking on a 6-foot goal.
It’s time to raise the rim. We need to raise the rim on our integrity and raise the rim whether or not people are looking. We need to raise the rim on how we talk to people and how we love them. The standard cannot be achievement. The standard has to be our starting place.
Raise the rim.
Ask yourself, “Who made your standard?” Was it culture, TV, your big brother, an actor, MTV, favorite singer, favorite athlete? The standard has to be set by an authority.
The only authority that should be setting standards in this world today is God. Culture is always changing its standard (fashion, cars, marriage). Our standard needs to be set by the word of God.
- My Standard is The Word of God
Even if it’s not right now, my standard is the word of God.
The standard should be the word of God. Anytime someone needs to be considered the authority on something, they were there before it happened, and have taken into consideration everything that might happen when it’s formed.
John 1:1 (NIV) – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God.
John 1:3 (NIV) – Through Him, all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.
It’s clear. The only person that should be able to set the standard/have the authority, on my life is the one who is here, and was before anything ever came to be.
That’s why we should be able to boldly say, “My standard is the Word of God”.
This needs to be in all areas of life. We can’t pick and choose where the standard of God applies to our lives. There’s a tendency to make up things that make life comfortable instead of listening to the patterns and the set rules and regulations that the Word of God sets for us.
How to find the right standard?
Romans 12:2 (GNT) – Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God – what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.
God is going to change your mind before he changes your money. If God blessed you with what you really ask for right now, you would end up in the same place you’re in right now because the thing really important to change is your mind.
God is going to change your mind before he changes your marriage. You tend to assume God needs to work on the other person for your marriage to change. If you would stop pointing at what they’re doing, and say, “but what am I doing? I know they’re difficult to work with, but can I do something different? Can I love better? Can I ask something?” That is to say, that the only one that can create transformation is not the zeroes in your bank account, not IG followers, not anything else, except God changing your mind.
What is he doing when he changes your mind? He’s resetting a standard.
- I know that’s what culture taught you, but that’s not how you treat women…
- I know that’s what your greedy uncle told you, but that’s not how you treat money…
- I know you had to tear other people down to defend yourself and get up in life, but that’s not the standard in the kingdom of God.
You cannot expect the blessings of the kingdom when you don’t use the methods of the kingdom. There are too many people wearing Christian swag, but their words and emotions don’t reflect Christ when they’re upset.
Raise the rim. Going forward, think about whether or not you will play at the standard.
Kobe was 15 years old in the clip presented – dunking on the standard. He decided to challenge himself young. If he started dunking on the standard young, it was at that level he would be playing on for the rest of his life.
To young people, you do not have to wait until you get older to hold up a standard. You do not have to go through all of the trials and tribulations that your family members and everyone else went through. You can start dunking on the standard right now. You can have purity right now and handle your money right, right now.
1 Timothy 4:12 (NLT) – Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.
This is a reference to being the standard. Your excuse can’t be that you’re too young, or all my friends, etc. etc. God is saying, if you would just raise the rim, maybe it would take a little time to get used to not cussing people out, to figure out how to tithe 10%, and to do things God’s way instead of your own.
The problem is, is that all of your examples have played at a low level for so long, that now when they’re older, and they try to raise the rim, doubt comes in, fear comes in, thoughts like, “how can I trust God to be celibate at 35 after wilding out my whole life? – Dry in a barren land.”
It’s always harder to set a standard when you already have a habit. For some of us, it’s going to be easier to raise the rim, because we haven’t formed a habit yet. For others of us, this is why we’re here. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to be able to help raise the rim and break the habit of what we’ve been doing, then raise the rim to do what God has called you to do, at the standard.
- Getting Stronger in God’s Standard Requires Sacrifice
Most people want to raise the rim, but still use the same amount of energy that they used at a low level. Thoughts like, “I didn’t really have to pray before when I gave $1 every time I came to church, but now you’re asking me to give 10% of my income – I have to pray every day. You said to love your enemies, at the low level, I only loved the people who like me, so if you like me, I love you – but you’re telling me I have to go back to work tomorrow and with that person I can’t stand – I need to raise the standard and love them anyway. My mother told me…if they hit me, hit them back” – Look at who set that standard – the mother.
This may challenge your core beliefs, because figures like parents set the standard for you early on, but your mother is not the standard. Your husband is nice, but he’s not the standard. A successful person may have money, but they’re not the standard.
Until the church of Jesus Christ goes back to the unchangeable, unmovable, unwavering standard of the Word of God, every election is going to throw us around, every time somebody dies our faith is going to be shaken, every time we lose, we’ll think God has forgotten about us. You’ll say “why is all of this happening?” – it’s because you have a low level standard.
Raise the rim.
Sacrifice only has to do with three things. God wants the following:
- Your time
- Your treasure
- Your talent
All of which he gave you.
It’s a real problem if you think your time, treasure, or talent are yours. You don’t somehow deserve what you are naturally inclined to do. The problem is a stewardship issue. God gave us something, but we’re not willing to give him back what he freely gave to us.
The problem with Mike not being able to dunk was not solely in him not having the ability, he didn’t give his time (practice), treasure (paid for training), or talent to it.
The reason many people never reach greatness is not because they don’t have what it takes, it’s because they won’t give what it takes.
You won’t sacrifice what it takes. For instance, people don’t know how many hours it takes Mike to think, research, pray, and ask what sounds sensible, to speak for an hour on Sunday. People may assume he’s just naturally gifted. It’s not that easy. The gift we see is because God raised the rim and told Mike that he wanted him to pastor a church.
Even so, with the rim raised, Mike had to perform lay ups before dunks could occur. It’s a process. It took Mike years of sacrificing time, treasure, and talent.
When you raise the rim, and get a standard, you now have to be committed to a sacrifice.
God is asking us to raise the rim. Will you sacrifice your time doing God’s work, will you join a belong group or serve on a team? Will you help kids learn the standard early so they don’t have to get healed and reworked like you did? As a man, will you get in the game and start raising and helping teach little children the Word of God from a male’s perspective, not that the voice of God is just a female, i.e. their mother, aunties, and grandmothers? Have men of God, who will stand and say, “As for me and my house, we will praise the lord”. – We’re raising the standard.
Stop being more inclined to give your money and time to a cable company that distracts you from purpose, because “the game is on”. Instead, decide that you’ll sow your time to a young man who lost his father, or a young man who needs you, even if you have your own kids. Maybe if you’d sow that into somebody else’s children, maybe somebody else will come and help yours too when they’re not listening to you. The kingdom of God is in reverse. Everything you need, you give. Everything you want, you give it away.
It’s time for us to raise the rim.
Kobe was known for his unnecessary sacrifice. He was 17 when he got into the NBA. He was making millions, but he still decided that his sacrifice was to give more. Kobe was willing to give an excessive sacrifice for a game. Are you willing to give that level of sacrifice for your God?
The truth is, many of us are not willing to sacrifice for God. Even after God has done everything for us, somehow, we think that what we have is ours. If he asked for everything in your wallet, or your house, you might go crazy. If he asks for an hour of time every week to help kids learn how to read, the time you would spend on IG casually comparing yourselves with people, you may still not do it. God is asking for a sacrifice of our time, talent, and treasure.
Romans 12:1 (GNT) – So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer.
^^ This is true worship. Your time, talents, and treasure should be offered.
Get the audacity to commit to the sacrifice that it’s going to take to raise the rim. Many of us don’t want to sacrifice because the rim is too high and we would rather play on the goal we made up.
When you’re not submitting authority, God, you can make up your own rules and make it as comfortable as you want it to be. Most of us look like we’re playing on the kiddie rim making up random rules because there’s no standard in our lives. Setting your own rules for relationships, doing what you want with your money, treating people how they treat you.
God is saying, is that what it’s really about? You setting your own standard, subpar to what he called you to do? So the sacrifice is easy. A child can play on the standard you set. However, a maturing believer will acknowledge that the kiddie rim is below the standard.
The world is not coming to a God who’s children only win on a standard they set. If Kobe was dunking on the kiddie goal with all of his ability, everybody would think he was crazy. That’s how believers can look when you praise God in public, but you’re mean to everybody. You’re speaking in tongues but don’t give in the offering.
Let’s recap,
- You Can’t Get Stronger On A Low Standard
- My Standard is The Word of God
- Getting Stronger in God’s Standard Requires Sacrifice
Now you need a strategy.
The problem with so many people is that they get the standard, they’re willing to sacrifice, but they don’t have a strategy. You don’t need a strategy if you don’t have an opponent.
The only reason you need a strategy is because you’re going up against something. The problem is that many of us are living our lives as if we don’t have an opponent.
You’re playing pick-up ball in the game of life. However, you need strategy because the moment you decide you’re going to live pure, the enemy becomes your opponent. He sends every person possible to derail your efforts for purity. I have an opponent, so I need a strategy.
- Strategy is Preparation for Opposition
You only study game film for the team you’re about to play. We need to get in our word, small groups, and be accountable because it’s part of the strategy.
In this year, you will have opposition. Most of us are playing like the devil doesn’t want to trip us up.
John 10:10 (NLT) – The thief’s (the devil/our opponent’s) purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
It’s easy to dunk with no opposition, but when the enemy comes and stands in front of you, he wants to take away your purpose. Nevertheless, God says that His purpose is to give us rich and satisfying lives.
To dunk with an opponent, at the standard, requires a strategy. The grace of God is like an alley oop, where you throw the ball near the basket to a teammate (God) who jumps, catches the ball in midair and slam dunks it before touching the ground.
When God says get in a belong group, that’s for your safety. When he tells you to give 10% of your income because he will rebuke the devourer for your sake, that’s an alley oop. When God tells you to give, it’s because he has something better coming behind. That’s the alley oop.
So many of us are missing the strategy of God because we won’t take the time and acknowledge that there is an opponent.
My Bible says, “Greater is He that’s in me, than he (any defender), that is in the world”.
This year, you’re going to have a strategy to make you everything God has called you to be.
STRATEGIES:
- Strategy for Purity:
Psalms 119:9 (NLT) – “How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word.“
You will need to dive in the word of God. Too many people want a breakthrough in an area they’re not willing to go through. You will need to set the standard, the time, and the treasure to overcome it.
The children of Israel went through the wilderness, not around it. God had a strategy for them, then they started disobeying the standards by idolizing and getting distracted. They sacrificed, but they sacrificed on the wrong level. The lowered the rim to about 6 feet and started sacrificing to golden calves and praying to 6-foot God’s and expecting answers to their prayers. They turned an 11 day journey into a 40 year death. Only 2 people from their generation got into the promised land.
They didn’t keep the standard, they weren’t willing to sacrifice at that level, and they didn’t have strategy.
- Strategy for Healing:
James 5:16 (NLT) – “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.“
If the people in your circle can’t help you heal, then maybe you’re in the wrong space. You don’t need a pastor, prophet, or apostle. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other.
- Strategy for Communication:
Ephesians 4:29 (NKJV) – “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your moth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”
Meaning, if you can’t edify (educate) with your words, shut up.
- Strategy for Finances:
Proverbs 3:9 (NIV) – “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns (bank account) will be filled to overflowing, and your vats (investments) will brim over with new wine.”
- Strategy for Life:
Matthew 6:33 (NIV) – “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Above the likes, the bag, and the relationships. Seek first the kingdom of God and the right standing (not perfect standing) – this can only happen with what Jesus did for us. Then all these things will be given to you as well.
Living at the standard of God will give you bonuses. He will bless you, your family, your business, your relationship, and your kids for generations.
Submit to the standard, surrender to sacrifice, and sell out to strategy.
- When You Submit To The Standard, Surrender To Sacrifice, And Sell Out To Strategy, You Will See Success
When you think of Kobe’s accolades, if we were to categorize success in that way, Kobe was massively successful.
The reason Mike used Kobe as an example, is because last week this time, Kobe, his daughter, and 7 other people took off on a routine helicopter flight, and minutes later, reports flooded in confirming that they had all perished and transitioned into eternity.
We’re talking about a standard, and a strategy, and a sacrifice, so that we could see success, and many of us feel like we have an infinite amount of time to make those decisions.
As spouses and parents, moments like this cause us to question what success is. Is it money, followers, power?
The Holy Spirit dropped in Mike’s heart what success was – true success is obedience to God.
If God asked you to teach kids where you’re underpaid, that’s true success. If he tells you to stay in that marriage, where it’s really hard right now, that’s true success. If he tells you to give what you have, and he’ll take care of you on the back end, that’s true success. Obedience to God.
The standard is lower when you believe success is fame, people being impressed with you, and other worldly things that don’t align with being obedient to God. When we do that, we’re playing at the wrong level.
It’s time to raise the rim.
When Kobe transitioned into eternity, none of the accolades mattered. 41 years, of working for something, and in a moment, it can be gone. As people mourn, and grieve, and hurt, and as we pray for them, we may never know, “Why is Kobe gone?” The greater question that you should be asking yourself is, “Why am I still alive?”
Raise the rim. Let’s not live at the standard that the world sets, or love at the standard that the world sets, or give at the standard that our family showed us. Let’s find our standard in the Word of God.
Let’s sell out to a sacrifice that might hurt, but it’s going to build more with our talent, time and treasure than we could do on our own. Let us get a strategy, and let us see eternal success.
Let’s live our whole lives to hear from God, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” Let the arena of heaven stand up and clap and shout, not because we did everything that the world said we could do, but because we obeyed God and did what God asked us to do. Then, we would have reached true success.
SUMMARY POINTS
- You Can’t Get Stronger On A Low Standard
- My Standard is The Word of God
- Getting Stronger in God’s Standard Requires Sacrifice
- Strategy is Preparation for Opposition
- When You Submit To The Standard, Surrender To Sacrifice, And Sell Out To Strategy, You Will See Success
- Bonus: Success is Obedience to God
Link to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlKQ8fK5GHI
